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Weird Dreams - Choreography (album)

Crocodiles - Sunday (Psychic Conversation #9) 7”

The Hairs - I’ve Been Working Out 7”

King Creosote and Jon Hopkins - Third Swan single

Cate Le Bon - Cyrk (album)

Tashaki Miyaki - sings the Everly Brothers 7”

Antony Harding - The Birds Sing Goodnight To You And Me (album)

Veronica Falls - My Heart Beats 7”

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Album Review

Various
Bam Thwok presents alt.pop - Songs to Improve Your Life Vol 1 Pale Fox

Article written by Matt H - Oct 30, 2011

alt.pop - Gary, they've got a new kind of person. A newer, stronger, cleaner breed.

While at SoundsXP we’re always happy to give a tip of our hat to an independent promoter/label trying to push new bands, your indie compilation (any compilation in fact) is usually something to be approached with caution. If you’ve ever looked at your last.fm ”neighbour”’s pages, you’ll always find that despite having “super” compatible taste, there’s 3 of their top 10 artists you wouldn’t listen to if you were being paid. Still, it turns out the optimism occasioned by spotting Morton Valence and Rats on Rafts on the track list is far from misplaced.

RoR keep up the quality of their recent album, managing to keep the hollow 80s post punk sounding fresh and worthwhile. Elsewhere Moon Visionaries, Mat Motte and Balloonman make reasonable fists of pulling off similar tricks. Other 80isms are less successful - providing some tracks that are a bit weary/dreary and while Elia and the Tears start chirpily enough, they take themselves far too close to Manhattan Transfer territory (yes, you read that right).

It’s not all beamed in from 30 years ago. Morton Valence are of course ploughing a rather different furrow and always good value for a well-penned song. Here they take their shift from electronica to downbeat country pop a step further through the mournful guitars of the self-explanatory Table for One. The Star Fighter Pilot seem to have nicked some of MVs synth parts and welded them a pouty hip thrusting number which sounds weirdly like Girls Against Boys welded to the Inspiral Carpets (to draw a comparison that’ll mean bugger all to anyone under the age of about 40, or indeed over it…) Plant Duw do a decent job of building their ace wall of sound opening into an energetic horn-heavy stomp along. The whole lot is rounded off by The Six’s rather good anthemic instrumental swell meaning that the hit rate stays well above the average. So the collective hat is duly doffed in the direction of Bam Thwok/Pale Fox and further gigs and releases awaited.

Links:
http://www.palefox.co.uk/
http://bam-thwok.posterous.com/